Distance: 131.01 km
Ride time: 7:01:15
Average: 18.69 km/h
Total: 24658 km
For the last time in a while I woke up at a petrol station and joined the Ruta 5, the highway that has been my home for the last week. I was a bit nervous about cycling into Santiago, after all a big city with more than five million people. On the other hand I have cycled into cities like New Delhi and Jakarta before, and it always seem to work out somehow.
I have enjoyed a steady tail wind for a week, but today it finally turned into a head wind. This resulted in a long and hard cycling day. Luckily I’m planning to spend some days in Santiago, so there should be time to recover.
About 25 kilometers before reaching Santiago I turned off the highway and started looking for smaller roads. It was Sunday so the traffic was not too bad. I could smell the BBQ’s from the houses I was passing – it’s a strong tradition to have Sunday BBQ with the whole family here.
Five kilometers from my hostel I got another flat. It is probably time to look for new tires as well. Good thing that Santiago is the perfect place for shopping.
Reaching Santiago was another big milestone. I’m now more or less on the same latitude as Buenos Aires where I had originally considered to start the ride. I’m happy that I decided to take another flight and begin in Ushuaia instead. Those 4000 kilometers have been hard cycling (well, apart from the last week), but absolutely worth it!
